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Terror Networks
Yemen says it will not extradite al-Qaeda suspects
2002-09-02
In a speech before the members of Yemen’s People's General Congress (PGC), President Ali Abdullah Saleh said that Yemen would not hand over any al-Qaeda suspect to foreign states and would not allow any state to interfere in Yemen's internal affairs.
Seems he thinks the tide's turned against the U.S...
Speaking at the concluding session of the sixth general conference of the People's General Congress, President Saleh said he had sent emissaries to al-Qaeda suspects in the governorates believed to be harboring them, telling them to surrender themselves and give the information they have while assuring them that the would be safe. "We told them the accused is innocent until proved guilty, we would not hand them over to the Americans," the President said.
I'm actually being too hard on Saleh. Yemen's another of those places that's an area, not a country. The tribes are "autonomous", meaning sufficiently ferocious that the central government can't control them, resulting in a situation kind of like the NWFP in Pakland. Yemen and NWFP are two very good arguments against anarchy as a political system.
President Saleh claimed that the members of the al-Qaeda and Jihad organization had been misguided and deceived, and the do not know anything. He said that when they are asked why they went to Afghanistan, they simply say “to declare Jihad". In order to deal with the religious misconceptions, a committee made up of Islamic scholars has been formed to conduct dialogues with those elements.
Good luck to 'em. There's a lot of propaganda to counter, especially with the source of it right next door...
The Yemen authorities have launched several military operations into the semi-autonomous interior provinces where the al-Qaeda suspects were believed to be sheltering. Heavy fighting has taken a toll of government troops who met fierce resistance from local peoples sheltering the suspects.
Sounds a lot like Pakland, doesn't it? Except that the Yemenis treat their women better.
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

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